Edwin A. Link is widely regarded as the archetype of modern-day flight simulation.  In 1929, his LINK trainer was the first commercially developed simulation aviation trainer that has since been designated as an Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. Link’s key innovation shaped the landscape for what has become a standardized and widely embraced platform for high-fidelity training.  Such systems are now commonplace across multiple foundational disciplines at I/ITSEC, including flight, driving, maritime, and others. A related fact is that the Link trainer was patented primarily as a flight trainer - but co-patented as an amusement device. The Link team instantly recognized that their innovative (and engaging) training system could also be implemented for leisure purposes; a prophetic concept, considering the technological state-of-the-art from that period. Now, almost one hundred years later, a powerful cross-synergy continues to exist between serious-minded M&S training applications and industry-leading simulator-based entertainment experiences – a notion that serves as the overarching impetus for this Tutorial.

In this timely “emerging technologies” presentation, we take a deep dive behind the screams into a recent and revolutionary simulator attraction located at the Walt Disney World Hollywood Studios (Orlando) theme park – Rise of the Resistance. Themed after the Star Wars franchise, Rise of the Resistance is a marquee, technologically groundbreaking multisensory attraction that includes several ride system innovations, motion system components, and industry firsts, including: i) a turntable simulator; ii) trackless planar motion; iii) large-screen immersive 6-DOF platform simulation; and iv) a ride finale that includes a freefall drop segment, never experienced previously on a ride simulator. This Tutorial will describe the end-to-end ride experience (and underlying M&S technologies) and will highlight broader impacts -- dating back to its Link Trainer origins -- associated with the state-of-the-art implementation. The Tutorial concludes with a preview of what is to come in the simulator entertainment sector, based upon both I/ITSEC innovative concepts and current patent technologies made publicly available within recent literature.